Tie cutter



L. J. GILMORE May 27, 1952 TIE CUTTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed March 24,1948 alorb J. GI/LMORE y 1952 L. J. GILMORE 2,598,048

TIE CUTTER Filed March 24, 1948 I 3 SheetsSheet 2 LLOYD J: GILMORE FIE5' L. J. GILMORE TIE CUTTER May 27, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March24, 1948 3mm LLOYD G/LMO/PE Patented May 27, 1952 OFFICE TIE CUTTERLloyd J. Gilmore, Spokane, Wash, assignor to Woolery Machine Company,Minneapolis, Minn.

Application March 24, 1948, Serial No. 16,690 1 I 4 Claims.

. This invention relates to improvements in machines for cutting railwaytrack ties to facilitate the removal of worn ties and replacement withnew, with the minimum disturbance of the ballast material.

The present invention is similar in some respects to, and has the samepurpose as, the machine disclosed in the Horace E. Woolery Patent No.2,207,883 issued July 16,1949.- In that machine there is shown a framesupported for travel movement along the track rails and carrying a poweroperated, swinging saw which may be lowered by hand down into engagementwith the tie to sever it inside the rail. The purpose of so cutting thetie is, as set out in the Woolery patent, to permit the severed end tobe pulled out from beneath the rail without disturbing the tie bed inthe ballast any more than necessary. To complete the removal of the tieits other end must, of course, be cut inside the other rail so that thisend-can be removed, and then the center of the tie lifted out of itsbed. In the Woolery machine this requires that the machine beperiodically reversed on the track so that both ends of the ties may besevered and in a practice it has been the custom to run the machine downthe track, ahead of the tie laying crew, for some distance while cuttingeach bad tie near one rail, and then to reverse the machine, running itback toward the crew to cut the ties near the other rail. This Ioperation has some disadvantages, one being that the cutter many timesis far ahead of the crew and its removal from the track to clear the wayof a train, and to reverse it for travel back toward the crew is oftendifficult. There are other disadvantages in this mode of operation whichwill be apparent to those skilled in track maintenance work but need nodescription herein.

It is the primary object of my invention to provide a machine having aframe for travel movement along the rails and a carriage, having thecutting mechanism supported for movements along the frame transverselyto the rails. Thus it is possible to position the cutter for operationinside each rail and in practice as soon as one, or at most a few, ofthe ties are cut off at one end the carriage is shifted to cut off theopposite end. Thus, the machine works immediately ahead of the tielaying crew overcoming the disadvantages previously mentioned.

A further object is to provide a machine of this character which hasnumerous other advantageous features among which are a convenientmeansfor locking the carriage in adjusted position, a separable carriageand frame arrangement facilitating handling and storage, and an overallreduction in weight and complication of" the machine to reduce its costand increase its convenience in operation.

These and other more details and specific objects will be disclosed inthe course of the following specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of myimproved machine in use on a track.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is an end view, the track rails being shown in cross section,along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional and elevational view alongthe line 44 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail side elevational view of the cuttercarriage lock or brake.

My machine is designed for use upon a railway track having the usualrails A and B supported by ties C and the machine is for the purpose offorming transverse cuts D down through the ties inside the rails so thatthe severed ends and centers of the ties may be removed with minimumdisturbance of the ballast.

The machine comprises a first or main frame, designated generally at I!)havingidentical side members consisting of parallel angles ll betweenthe ends of which are journaled rollers or the grooved wheels [2 adaptedto travel along the rails A and B. This frame is completed bytransversely extending tracks or carriage supports l3 in the form ofpipes welded to the angles l I, one adjacent each end thereof.

The machine further includes a second frame or carriage, designatedgenerally at [4, and this carriage, as it will be hereinafter termed,comprises a pair of parallel side bars [5 and I6 suitably connectedtogether and braced as designated at I 1. At one end of this frame thereis removably mounted a bracket or bracket frame I8 terminating intransversely extending bars l9 between which are journaled a pair ofperipherally grooved rollers 20 adapted to travel upon one of the tracksI3. Near the opposite end of the carriage at each side thereof there isremovably mounted a bracket 2| in which is journaled another groovedroller 22 positioned to travel upon the other track I 3. It will bereadily understood that this arrangement thus permits the carriage M tomove back and forth on the tracks [3 in directions transverse to therails A and B and parallel to and over the ties C. The purpose ofremovably mounting the brackets l 8 and 2| is to permit the substitutionof wheels (not here shown) in the carriage for travel along the trackrails so that the machine may be set up for use, without the frame [5,like that of the Woolery machine previously mentioned.

Suitably mounted on the carriage 14 adjacent one end thereof is a powerplant 23 in the form of a small internal combustion engine upon thepower shaft 24 of which is a grooved pulley 25 over which run belts 25to a larger pulley or flywheel 27. This flywheel is mounted upon the endof a countershaft 28 journaled in bearings 29 secured to the carriageside bars 15 and 16. An upright standard 30 is secured to the side bar land a bracket 3! thereon aids in supporting a pin 32 upon which ispivoted one end of the cutter feed arm 33 having a handle extension 34out over one end of the carriage. A saw carrier 35 is pivoted at itsupper end at 36 to the arm 33 and at its lower end the carrier hasremovably mounted a saw blade 3'! like that of the Woolery patent. Apitman 38 is pivoted at 39 to the lower part of the carrier 35 and atits opposite end is pivoted on an eccentric pin 40 on the flywheel 21,the arrangement being obviously thus such that the power rotation of theflywheel will be translated to an oscillating motion of the saw carrierand blade in an upright plane transversely of the ties C. The saw blademay be lowered into engagement with the tie and fed to its work by aworkman grasping the handle 34 and standing at that end of the machine,the work being facilitated by a short hand grip M for his left hand.

The saw blade swings in a space alongside the carriage side bar l5 andwithin a guard plate 42 supported parallel with the side bar and fromthe side bar and guard plate there arises vertically slotted guide 43through which the pitman 38 works, holding the saw against displacementlengthwise of the tie.

Arms 44 extend upwardly and angularly from the ends of the carriage l4and they are joined by transverse parts 45 to which are pivoted handlebars 45. Then handle bars 45, of which there are two at each end of thecarriage, may be readily grasped by workmen to lift the carriage fromthe track whenever required. At one end there is a mount for an abrasivewheel 41 (Fig. 1 only) which may be run from the power plant used tosharpen the saw blade 31 as will be readily understood.

While a tie is being cut it is, of course, necessary that the carriagebe locked in position and for this purpose, I provide a lock or brakemechanism best shown in Fig. 5 which comprises arms 48 and 49 fulcrumedat 53 and El upon opposite sides of the bars l9 and depending therefromto opposite sides of the adjacent track l3. Brake shoes 52 are securedat the lower ends of the arms 48-49 and the mounting of these arms issuch that they may be swung together or apart on the pivots 5B5| to movethe shoes against the track or away therefrom. Pivoted at the upper endof the arm 48 at 53 is a hand lever 54 and a loop 55 thereon looselyembraces the upper end of the other arm 49. A link 56 is pivoted at 51to the lever 54 and at 58 to the arm 49 and the operation is obviouslysuch that up and down movements of the hand lever 54 will swing the arms4849 to engage and disengage the shoes 52 with the track B. The link 56is in two parts, slotted to accommodate bolts 59 by which its length maybe adjusted, and the pivot 58 may be located in any one of a series ofopenings 55 in the arm 49, all for the purpose of spacing and ad- 4justing the arms to properly and tightly engage the shoes 52 with thetrack when the hand lever is operated.

The carriage may thus be locked in any position on the frame ID toposition the saw along the length of the tie. Additionally it will benoted that the carriage may be lifted from the frame It to facilitatehandling and storage, but upward displacement of the carriage as the sawis forced to its work is prevented by the fact that the brake shoes 52engage the underside of the track l3, or engage it below its maximumdiameter. This also permits the entire machine to be lifted from thetrack as a unit when desired.

In operation the saw is positioned to make a out near one rail and thecarriage looked as the work proceeds. When a cut is completed thecarriage is unlocked and moved across toward the other rail to make acut thereat, being again locked as the cutting goes on. Stops 6| aresecured to one of the tracks [3 to stop the movement of the carriage inboth directions when the saw has reached the same point inside therails. As will be noted in Fig. 3 the tracks l3 extend at one end beyondthe adjacent rail some distance to accommodate the width of the carriageas it moves up against the stop in this direction. These stops may, ofcourse, be adjustable as they are shown in Fig. l.

The saw feed arm 33 is yieldably urged in an upward direction byretractile coil springs 62 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4) which are connected at 63to the opposite upper and lower ends of a pair of slide bars 6465. Thesebars are located one along the other and the bar 64 is slotted at 66 toaccommodate a bolt 61 on the arms 33 while the other bar is slotted at58 to pass a bolt 69 on a bracket attached to the carriage. Thus as thesaw feed arm is depressed, to feed the saw to the work, the bars 64-65slide endwise with respect to each other and stretch the springs, andvice versa.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in thestructure as disclosed. provided such modifications come within thespirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fullyillustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new anddesire to protect by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

1. A machine for cutting railway ties, comprising a first frame havingwheels for travel along the rails, tracks on the first frame at frontand rear ends thereof and extending crosswise with respect to the rails,a second frame having wheels at its front and rear ends supporting itupon the tracks for travel crosswise of the rails, and tie cutting meanson the second frame, the said tracks having rounded upper portions andthe wheels on the second frame being peripherally grooved to travel onsaid rounded portions, and means on the second frame for engaging one ofthe tracks and holding the frame downward on the first frame.

2. A machine for cutting railway ties, comprising a first frame havingwheels for travel along the rails, tracks on the first frame at frontand rear ends thereof and extending crosswise with respect to the rails,a second frame havin wheels at its front and rear ends supporting itupon the tracks for travel crosswise of the rails, a tie cutting meanson the second frame adjacent one of said tracks, and means on the secondframe for engaging the same track for securing 5 the second frameagainst displacement relative to the first frame.

3. A machine of the character described tor cutting railway ties,comprising a frame having wheels for travel movement along the railwayand having transversely extending tracks at front and rear, a carriagehaving wheels supported on the tracks for movement transversely of theframe, tie cutting means on the carriage and including an operatinghandle member at one end of the carriage, and means on the same end ofthe carriage for locking the carriage against displacement on thetracks.

4. A machine of the character described for cutting railway ties,comprising a frame having wheels for travel movement along the railwayand having transversely extending tracks at front and rear, a carriagehaving wheels supported on the tracks for movement transversely of theiframe, tie cutting means on the carriage, and means on the carriage forengaging the sides 6 and underside of one of said tracks to lock thecarriage in the frame.

LLOYD J. GILMORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 1,688,439 Smout Oct. 23, 19281,815,037 DeWalt July 21, 1931 1,830,977 Banfer Nov. 10, 1931 1,865,759Hughes July 5, 1932 2,097,430 Brown Nov. 2, 1937 2,207,883 Woolery July16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS .0 Number Country Date 679,094 France Jan. 5,1930

